Tsukikage no tsune ni sumu naru yama no ha o hedatsuru kumo no nakaramashikaba - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

月影の常にすむなる山の端を
隔つる雲のなからましかば

Roma-ji: Tsukikage no tsune ni sumu naru yama no ha o hedatsuru kumo no nakaramashikaba
English Translation: The moonlight, they say,
always dwells clear and bright
on the mountain rim;
if only there were no clouds
to screen it from our sight
Meaning: If only there were no clouds to screen the mountain rim where, they say, the moonlight always shines clear and the Buddha ever dwells, I could look up at that moon at any time.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Buddhist Poems 1207

Headnote: "Composed on the Lifespan chapter when the empress's household held a dedication of the Lotus Sutra copied chapter by chapter in the reign of Emperor Go-Reizei"
In the reign of Emperor Go-Reizei, when the empress's household had the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sutra copied one by one and dedicated, the poet composed this on the chapter on the Lifespan of the Tathāgata. If only there were no clouds to screen the mountain rim where the moonlight always shines clear, he says. The Lifespan chapter teaches that though the Buddha seems to pass into extinction, he is in truth ever on Vulture Peak preaching the Law. Likening the ever-present Buddha to the moon on the mountain rim and the delusion that hides him to clouds, he longs to meet the Buddha if only that delusion were gone.
The author, "Fujiwara no Kunifusa," was an official of the mid to late Heian period, but the details of his life are not known.
1231 in this book also treats the Lifespan chapter; this poem sings of the moon screened by clouds and that one of the moon seen as having set, both likening the ever-present Buddha to the moon.

First line, "tsukikage no": "tsukikage" is moonlight, standing for the ever-present Buddha.
Second line, "tsune ni sumu naru": "sumu" plays on the moon shining clear and on the Buddha ever dwelling. "Naru," the attributive of the hearsay auxiliary "nari," means "so they say."
Third line, "yama no ha o": the rim of the mountain, calling to mind Vulture Peak, where the Buddha is said to preach forever.
Fourth line, "hedatsuru kumo no": the clouds stand for the delusion of beings that hides the Buddha from sight.
Fifth line, "nakaramashikaba": "mashika," the irrealis of the counterfactual "mashi," gives "if only there were none." The sentence breaks off, leaving the wish to meet the Buddha as a lingering overtone.
Author: Fujiwara no Kunifusa
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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